This friendly was a game of two halves. The visiting Cardiff City, playing preseason
tune-up matches, dominated the first half, taking a 1-0 lead on Michael Chopra's goal on the first shot of the
match. The host Seattle Sounders, most of the way through their league season, came back to win the second half
on Roger Levesque's goal, and the sides settled for a draw. The Cardiff City Bluebirds are from Wales and play
in the Coca Cola Football League Championship.

Good news for Seattle was the appearance of Cuban striker Maykel Galindo late in the match, his first
appearance after suffering a broken nose and face in a preseason friendly against Chivas USA. Missing from Seattle's
lineup was rookie and leading scorer Cam Weaver, injured but reportedly cleared to play in the league matches
this weekend.

First Half

4' Chopra (Parry). Cardiff City scored on the first shot of the match. Paul Parry's long cross from the
left touch line was perfect for Chopra on a run up the middle, and he got way up to head a shot under the
crossbar from 10 yards. It was a nice goal. 1-0 Cardiff City.

A minute later Seattle's first shot came from left midfielder Santa Maria Rivera, who volleyed from inside
the penalty area but wasn't close to goal. Seattle would get only one other shot in the half, another try from
Rivera that also missed by a wide margin.

There was nice chanting in the south end between a strong group of Cardiff City supporters and the
Emerald City Supporters, who were just a section apart. The Cardiff supporters were already singing the Jingle
Bells song in the 10th minute, but it would prove to be premature.

As Seattle fans are accustomed to seeing this year, the defense tried to give the match away. In the 11th,
an attempted clearance by Danny Jackson went right up the middle to an open Chopra, and the quick shot resulted
in Chris Eylander making the first save of the match. A minute later left back Jake Besagno slid down with an
attempted ball tackle and missed completely, leading to a powerful shot by Neal Ardley and an strong save by
Eylander. Another minute went by and Parry tried up the middle from 20 yards and missed the lower left corner
by inches.

Seattle's defense finally settled things down until the 30th minute, when Ardley crossed nicely from the
right touch line and Stephen Thompson was there to head a shot, but he missed a half yard over the bar and was
left holding his head in dismay. Left back Joe Ledley was up in the 35th for a 25-yard try, but he missed by two
yards.

Chopra had two more chances in the final two minutes of the half, first another gift from a poor Seattle
clearance that Chopra fired wide by a yard. In the 45th Chopra took a pass for a 25-yard shot up the middle,
low and hard and taken by Eylander.

Halftime: Seattle 0-1 Cardiff City

The second half saw no shots either way until 61' when Parry shot from long free kick play, but he wasn't
close. Another free kick play gave Chopra a shot, and Eylander saved.

A turning point in the match seemed to occur with a head banging incident in the 66th minute. Right back
Kevin McNaughton was in the arc in Seattle's end to challenge Seattle substitute defender Seyi Abolaji for
an air ball. Both players went down as McNaughton was whistled for a foul. Abolaji was first up after a couple
of minutes and he stayed in the match. McNaughton finally got up and left the pitch holding a fat bandage on
the top of his head, probably needing a stitch or three. Chris Barker came on for McNaughton.

The head banging seemed to stun not only McNaughton, but also the whole Cardiff City side. On the restart
from the arc in Seattle's end, the Sounders worked the ball up the middle and deep in the Bluebirds' penalty
area, and the defender failed to clear the ball, giving the trailer, Levesque, a golden chance from a short
drop pass. Levesque shot on goal, but goalkeeper Neil Alexander managed to deflect it across the goal mouth
and a yard wide of the far post, out for a corner. The corner kick play gave Andrew Gregor an open shot up the
middle from 20 yards, and he blistered the ball only to see Alexander make a spectacular one-handed slap
just over the bar. The next corner kick got loose and went to Jackson for an 18-yard low shot up the middle
that went inches wide of the post.

72' Levesque (Sagare). Substitute midfielder Jake Sagare took a pass on the right side, got by his
marker with a feint, and sprinted forward to whip a perfect cross to the near post. Levesque was on the
near-post run and leaned forward to power a header inside the near post, beating a visibly frustrated Alexander
to the ball. 1-1.

The offense then opened up both ways as each side showed a lot of heart and tried to win the match, much
to the delight of the fans.

After a Cardiff player was whistled for dangerous play, Seattle had a 25-yard free kick, but Gregor wasted
it wide of the near post. Galindo came on in the 79th minute and the fans voiced their appreciation at seeing
him back on the pitch.

It looked like Cardiff would win it in the 86th when Chopra was free up the middle after a defender
stabbed at the ball and missed, but Chopra touched it a bit too far ahead and Eylander was able to charge
out to the 18 and take the ball off Chopra's foot.

In the same minute, Seattle substitute Jamal Sutton got wide open for an 18-yard shot, powered on goal
but right into Alexander's bread basket.

In the 90th Chopra broke free for another good chance from 15 yards, but Eylander made an outstanding save.

The last chance was Seattle's, when Sutton was fed the ball deep in the box. He dropped a pass to the 18,
where Galindo fired a shot inches over the top near corner. Seconds later the final whistle sounded.